Proposed Trade Lands Lakers Missing Star Piece For Championship Contention

Should LA take the home run swing?

The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of work to do with their roster over the rest of the offseason, deciding how to build things out. The team has been linked to multiple stars this summer but so far, nothing has materialized with another team.

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report posted a trade idea for the Lakers that could bring them to championship contention right away. It involved dealing with the Utah Jazz for star big man Lauri Markkanen.

"Austin Reaves, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Maxwell Lewis, a 2029 first-round pick, a 2030 first-round pick swap and a 2031 first-round pick to the Utah Jazz for Lauri Markkanen"

While this would be a massive haul going out of Los Angeles, landing Markkanen would be an interesting piece for the team. He has gotten better each season and would thrive playing alongside Anthony Davis in the frontcourt.

The biggest issue with Markkanen is that he will be a free agent at the end of this coming season so Los Angeles would need to pay him. He will likely land a large free-agent contract so if the team was making this trade, they would need to be certain he was the answer for them.

"He needs a new deal between now and next summer. Combine that uncertainty with the fact Utah is nowhere near contending, and that might be enough for the Jazz to let him go. This is a premium price to pay—it's all the good trade chips L.A. has—but Markkanen is a premium talent. He has twice flirted with 50/40/90 shooting rates while averaging north of 23 points. He'd be an effortless fit (and wildly efficient) as a third star next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis."

Markkanen could be the big missing piece to help the Lakers get over the hump for the final few seasons of LeBron James. He could also help usher in the post-James era for the Lakers as well, making this an interesting move.

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